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GPO director steps down

Davita Vance-Cooks resigned as director of the Government Publishing Office on Oct. 31 to take a job in the private sector. She had led the agency since 2013.

Under Vance-Cooks, GPO prioritized a shift towards digitization. One yardstick to measure just how much the digital age transformed GPO is the agency's name change on Vance-Cooks' watch, from Government Printing Office to Government Publishing Office in 2014.

"Vance-Cooks championed a strategy of modernization that resulted in expanded public access to digital Government information," the agency said in a statement. Modernization under Vance-Cooks included new offerings like ebooks, mobile apps and bulk data. GPO also accelerated efforts to digitize the archives of the Congressional Record and shifted its IT capabilities to the cloud -- the first legislative branch agency to do so.

Along with the new digital innovations, Vance-Cooks oversaw the more traditional services like document printing and passport production, which still continue to play a large role in the everyday activities of GPO.

Before becoming director in 2013, Vance-Cooks spent nine years at GPO serving in various management roles including chief of staff and managing director of sales. Her prior career was in the private sector, working for a number of health insurance companies. Vance-Cooks will make a return to the private sector, but the GPO statement did not specify where.

Deputy Director Jim Bradley takes over the top job on an acting basis until a replacement is named.